1. Field of the Invention
The present description generally relates to gaming, and in particular to games played with playing cards.
2. Description of the Related Art
Casinos and other forms of gaming are a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry. Typically, a player exchanges currency or a form of credit for a casino's chips. The player places the chips as wagers at various games, such as blackjack, baccarat, poker, and other well-known card games. A game operator, such as a dealer, distributes or deals the playing cards, pays out winning wagers with additional chips based on the set of odds for the particular game, and/or collects losing wagers. The odds of each game slightly favor the casino, so on average the casino wins and is profitable.
Thousands of card hands may be dealt per hour. Like many businesses, casinos wish to monitor these transactions as closely as possible. Monitoring may help the casino identify cheating by players and/or dealers. Monitoring may also allow the automation of various functions such as accounting to improve business efficiency, servicing of the tables including the delivery of extra chips when needed, and/or may providing incentives (i.e., “comps”) to players based on their activity at the gaming table. Many casinos employ individuals commonly referred to as “pit bosses” to visually monitor the gaming activity including the dealing of cards, placing of wagers, payout of winning wagers and collection of losing wagers. A number of automated devices have been proposed for assisting casinos in monitoring the gaming activity. For example, card readers which optically or magnetically scan either standard or special markings on the playing cards to identify the playing cards as they are dealt. Optical scanners have also been proposed for reading markings carried by wagering chips, such as barcodes. Further, radio frequency identification (“RFID”) transceivers have been proposed for reading RFID tags incorporated in wagering chips.
The use of optical markings have a number of distinct drawbacks. For example, these markings degrade during use for example due to excessive handling and/or spills or stains, and thus become difficult or impossible to read. Optical markings are also difficult to read in the uncontrolled visual environment common in casinos. For example, optical systems rely on line-of-sight, which may be blocked in the uncontrolled visual environment of a gaming table, for example, by a drink or other object placed on the gaming table. Further, players and other casino customers wear a large variety of colors in their clothing, which clutters the visual background, making the optical marking difficult or impossible to read.
Magnetic marking also have a number of distinct drawbacks. For example, RFID technology has other distinct drawbacks. For example, these markings degrade during use for example due to excessive handling, and thus become difficult or impossible to read. Magnetic markings must be placed in very close proximity to the reader, which typically requires the swiping of the magnetic marking through a slot in the reader. This would unduly interfere with the playing of traditional card games.
RFID technology relies on a semiconductor chip coupled to an antenna. The cost of these RFID chips is rather high, currently on the order of $1.50-$2.50 per chip. Thus each set of 52 playing cards would cost between $78 and-$130, prohibitively expensive for practical use given the extremely large number of playing card sets each casino uses. While these RFID chips tend to be very thin, they are still rather large when compared with the thickness of a playing card. Thus it is difficult to incorporate an RFID chip in a playing card. For example, an RFID chip laminated in a playing card may be detectable as a lump or bump by players, causing the players to reject the playing cards and take their business to other casinos. The RFID chip may throw off the balance of the playing card, again causing players to chose other casinos. The increase in thickness in the playing card may interfere with existing casino systems, such as automatic shuffle devices.
It would be desirable to have a system and method that efficiently allows a casino to identify and/or monitor playing cards. Further, it would be desirable to have a common system and method that efficiently allows casinos to read both playing cards and wagers.